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Tuesday, 20 March 2012

Sales for Non Sales Does Everyone live by selling something?

Former Poet Laureate Sir Andrew Motion has just written a sequel to Robert Lewis Stevenson's 'Treasure Island' entitled "Silver"* - return to Treasure Island. Whether Andrew Motion as a creative writer sees himself as a "Salesman" I don't know, but the inspiration for his book was the author Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) who once said

" Everyone lives by selling something".﻿﻿

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The SIPOC Process approach to illustrate Sales for Non Sales

﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿Those familiar with Six Sigma processes will be familiar with the SIPOC map. Suppliers,Inputs, Process, Outputs, Customers.

A simple way to illustrate this. Think of the process steps of dining Out. You can see that at each stage the people involved will as likely as not be both Buyer and Seller either internally or externally.

Yet people who merchandise the stock and the cash and carry, those who write/create the recipes for the dishes, those who prepare and cook the ingredients, those who wait on the diners and the customers may not necessarily see their roles in Sales .

Yet poorly or brilliantly sourced products will have an effect on salesPoorly or brilliantly composed recipes will have an effect on salesPoorly or brilliantly cooked food will have an effect on salesPoorly or brilliantly served food will have an effect on salesDisappointed or delighted diners will have an effect of sales

It is in that sense that everyone is in selling ( and buying) even when a carry and carry buyer, the cook, waiter and so on may not see what they do as selling.

So RL Stevenson gets it right in that sense in the UK some 100 hears on.

So for those who may not work directly in sales B2B .. We are all buyers and sellers to each externally or internally in our jobs.

I have just completed a Sales for non Sales at Warwick Conferences Radcliffe House. It is a great venue with top quality Internet, training rooms, spacious bar, good restaurant. But the make and break of such as place are the people.

They make the experience are much as the bricks and mortar. Thanks to Radcliffe for another great experience.

The delegates attending on the TACK Sales for Non Sales programme were from a wide range of roles and businesses e.g. technical solutions for waste management , construction industry, diesel engines to the news print world.Early on the group plotted an adapted version of a SIPOC map for the business.

The key to this is identifying how they add value to customer.

It is strange how when delegates arrive on such programmes they often introduce themselves as "not really in Selling but I deal with clients."

The first thing is to work on their confidence and develop a selling mindset appropriate to what they do. By the end of the day they are talking more fluently as professional salespeople.

SIPOC map adapted to the experience and role of Non sales

The Need for Non Sales Training - a very wide audience:

Just because you may work in the back office does not mean you are not in the front line of sales. Many people today are expected to support the operational objectives of their organisation.

When a client calls and needsyour help the fact that you 'are not really in sales' does not help them.

In reality anyone who interacts with customers, especially those who support or work alongside sales is in non-sales.

A couple of delegates on the course were looking to move into a more sales focused role in their careers, others were seeking to maximise their personal effectiveness and add value to their firm can do so through incorporating sales skills into their current role.

So a basic understanding of the sales process will never let non-sales feel out of place when out on joint calls with salespeople.

Technically-minded specialists who have developed their careerto date in their specialist expertise, will find sooner or later that they are required to develop both technical and commercial relationships which require selling skills

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Scott, Alex and James set about identifying moments of opportunities for their businesses

Wayne and Andrea consider at the moments of opportunity between Sales, Non Sales and Customer in their respective organisations

Increasingly today it is consultants who need to bridge the gap between ‘trusted advisor’ and sales professional who need 'Sales skills for non sales'.

Buyers don't want the old fashioned telling- selling person they want a problem solver, and a business partner.

Operational staff with frequent client contact need to keep up to date in their skills to scope and leverage potential business opportunities.

Directors and partners who need to inspire and influence people internally and externally, who recognise that technical or specialist knowledge is not enough. They need to be able to sell.

Graduates without sales skills are seldom likely to progress as quickly as early potential showed. ( see links to Graduates in Selling.)

So the target audience for the TACK Sales for non Sales programmes come from a vast spectrum of job roles and industries.

Moment of Opportunity

Moment of opportunity Map

Much of the day is spent on Communication skills both spoken, written and non verbal communication with client interactions all based around TACK's KAYAK process.

•Ask open questions and engage in active listening – summarise discussions and take effective notes ‘Taking Note’ of the Client and giving them a really good listening to!

•Deal with customer resistance – build an objection bank and develop persuasive responses handling as well as answering

•Keep the right people informed – who needs to know what? Busting the silo mentality

Becoming better listeners to our clients is at the core

An anagram of LISTEN is SILENT now that is thought provoking!!!!

Here is another quote of RL Stevenson that seems appropriate to end this post- its message is for all in Non Sales who have to interact with Clients each day . It is certainly good advice for writers whether bloggers like myself or distinguished authors like Andrew Motion!!!

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About Me

I have been a training consultant for 30 years.
I also research Buyers Views of Sales people for an ongoing research study I have done for the last twelve years
The majority of photographs, videos and audios in this blog are taken on my new Fujifilm Fine pix T from May 2012 The Pencil Sketches are mine also